DENVER, CO — (Marketwire) — 07/26/11 — (HLI), the global leader in medical terminology management, today announced that it has expanded its provider friendly technology (PFT) solution to over 120,000 terms in addition to the existing terms used by SNOMED-CT and ICD. Combining this diagnosis category with HLI-s 40,000 most-commonly used procedure code abbreviations, colloquial expressions and synonyms has created the world-s most comprehensive PFT code set. Physicians commonly use PFT to document and search for information about patients- diagnoses.
The integration of HLI-s state-of-the-art, intuitive enabling tools ensures that HLI-s customers have access to the most functional, flexible and scalable PFT code set in existence. This content allows physicians and other clinicians to stay within their comfort zone and use their preferred terms for documenting patient visits. By not forcing physicians to adjust to the standards, productivity is improved, resulting in a marked increase in EHR adoption and interoperability. PFT also improves billing accuracy and efficiency, and enhances data mining and analytics by automatically mapping preferred terms to the correct standardized codes. This provides the foundation for true semantic interoperability that is at the core of effective information exchange. PFT also makes it easy to create simple problem lists that are required to meet Phase 1 Meaningful Use requirements.
As the industry transitions to ICD-10, which will dramatically increase the number of diagnosis codes from 14,000 to 68,000, and procedure codes from 4,000 to 87,000 effective Oct. 1, 2013, the importance of PFT will grow exponentially. “A key reason physicians have not gone digital is that EHRs have historically forced them to change how they work and deliver care,” explained Brian Levy, M.D., HLI-s chief medical officer. “Even if they are willing to take a productivity hit and try to remember new words for documenting the same care, ICD-10-s tenfold increase in the number of codes makes that impossible. With HLI-s PFT, however, doctors can deploy systems that not only communicate with each other, but also conform to their needs instead of the other way around. The volume and granularity of ICD-10 plus the national push for interoperability and comparative effectiveness research will make HLI-s PFT even more of a critical must-have tool for physicians and hospitals.”
When physicians enter a synonym, abbreviation or colloquial expression into an EHR to record a diagnosis, HLI-s PFT solution automatically translates that information into the appropriate ICD-9 code. For example, if a doctor types IC or PE, HLI-s application standardizes the acronyms to ICD-9 concepts — intermittent claudication and pulmonary embolus — and assigns the appropriate ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM billing codes. Where appropriate, the SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine — Clinical Terms), the world-s most widely used clinical code set, is also assigned. HLI also provides seamless mapping and immediate updates for more than 100 of the world-s clinical and administrative code sets, including LOINC for lab tests and results and RxNorm for medications.
HLI will complete mapping its PFT terminology to ICD-10 long before the migration deadline. According to Dr. Levy, “We look forward to incorporating this functionality into the comprehensive suite of tools and services already available to help our clients successfully transition to ICD-10. By leveraging their core interoperability through HLI-s Language Engine or Language Engine Access Portal (LEAP), hospitals and clinicians will be well prepared to accommodate any upgrades in standards and codes. They will be equipped to successfully navigate the seismic forces for change that are impacting every aspect of healthcare delivery as we move toward an interconnected and coordinated health system.”
Denver-based Health Language, Inc. (HLI) develops and delivers state-of-the-art software solutions that automatically incorporate medical vocabulary and coding standards into healthcare information technology (HCIT) applications. HLI-s Language Engine (LE) allows centralized access to medical terminology standards and generates mappings to create a common pool of standardized codes and concepts that enhance patient safety, facilitate clinical outcomes analysis and accelerate reimbursement. It also provides standards for modeling, storing, updating and distributing information consistently for interoperability between hospitals, regions and countries. For more information, visit or call 720.940.2900.
Amendola Communications for Jan Shulman
480.664.8412, ext. 12
Jodi Amendola
480.664.8412 ext. 11
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